Okami no Mure
by DD Leader Dark Heart of Water
Summary: Winter is coming, and the Warrior Pack are trying to find a place to stay, unable to stay at the Forest Terminal any longer. But when someone goes to them for much-needed and extremely reluctant help, they have no choice but to choose between what they know is right and an old grudge, especially when they realise that she was the indirect cause of the ruin of their parents' pack.
1. Chapter 1

_DD: _This took a while longer than I thought it would to writer… anyway, I got the idea when I went to a wolf sanctuary in Africa. It's a bit like Naruto in the sense that there are parts introduced now that will be explained later on.

* * *

_ There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing and be nothing - Aristole_

* * *

Grey clouds slowly blew over the small hill that two, proud-stanced figures stood on, the wind weaving between their hair, creating an unseen barrier between the two.

"Winter's coming," one commented, his long, raven hair tied back into a low ponytail, secured by a blue-and-grey tiger-striped bandana.

"I know," the other sighed in response, his hazel eyes fixed on the stormy grey clouds that were travelling overhead, his goggles gleaming in the dim light provided by the moonlight that crept through gaps in the clouds. "Hopefully it will be better this year."

"Hopefully?" the first's cobalt eyes narrowed slightly.

"Nothing's definite," the goggle-head shrugged. "Anything can change in a split second."

There was a moment of tense silence before the first chuckled slightly, shaking his head in exasperation, "This is the only time of year I can ever get you to be serious."

"I like summer, so sue me," the goggle head scowled slightly.

"Takuya, you're never serious in spring or autumn either," cobalt eyes narrowed again as the other – Takuya – shrugged.

"Touché… but summer's the only time you ever _lighten_ up, Kouji."

"That was a terrible pun," Kouji shook his head in exasperation before slowly turning his back on the stormy clouds and gazing down at the woody landscape behind him. "So what are we going to do? It's up to you to lead us."

"We can't stay here again," Takuya decided after a moment. "Seraphimon's getting impatient…" He was silent for a moment as Kouji snorted.

"He has every right to be; we've been here every winter for the past ten years."

"It's the safest place to be since one of the other Celestial Angels turned," Takuya sighed. "No one knows whether it's Cherubimon or Ofanimon who's been corrupted."

"Maybe it's both," Kouji muttered darkly. "We don't know how powerful the Demon Lords are; they might have easily been able to corrupt two Celestial Angels."

"Maybe," Takuya lowered his head slightly in hesitant agreement before walking back down the hill with Kouji following at a close-yet-respectful distance. "Come on; we need to get the others ready. We leave tomorrow evening."

* * *

Izumi's head whipped up, her blonde hair whipping her cheeks lightly, "The wind's changing."

"It'll be snowing soon," Chiaki added, her thick, brown braids swinging wildly on either side of her head. "We'd better move soon."

"That's up to Takuya," Izumi muttered as she grabbed a handful of berries from a bush and pooling them into her purple, cat-eared hat. "You know how he is; he'll probably want to stay here because of Seraphimon's protection."

"But we've been here every winter for ten years," Chiaki sighed quietly. "Seraphimon's getting impatient…"

"I don't know what you expect me to do about it," Izumi glanced at the other female sharply.

"You _and_ Takuya are the alphas," Chiaki explained. "Not just Takuya. If anyone can convince him to go somewhere else, you can."

"There's still one difference between Takuya and I," Izumi murmured quietly. "I'm not the pack leader."

Chiaki nodded slightly in acceptance before whipping her head up, a growl forming in her throat, "Someone's coming."

Immediately, she and Izumi stood back to back, glaring in opposite directions, ready for their opponent to greet them. But other than a slight flash of yellow fur, nothing appeared, so after a minute or two, the females forced their muscles to relax, although they remained alert for attack.

"We'd better go back," Izumi stated tensely, her hat tightly clenched in her hand.

"Right," Chiaki nodded in agreement before the duo turned back towards the area of forestry that the pack had camped in the night before.

Neither of them seemed to notice, however, the pair of startling green eyes that followed them out of sight.

* * *

"Any problems?" Takuya raised an eyebrow at Kouichi as he walked back into the camp.

Kouji's elder twin glanced at him briefly before shaking his head, the usual soft smile on his face, his arms crossed as he leaned against a tall, pine tree, "Not even a Wormmon nearby."

"That won't be good for food," Takuya sighed.

"But it's good for us right now," Kouji put in quietly. "If we don't get into unnecessary fights, it will mean more energy."

"He has a good point," Kouichi glanced sideways at Takuya.

"You always think he has a good point," Takuya childishly pouted, causing the two twins to chuckle, although they all knew that the goggle-head agreed with the younger twin.

"So where are we going for winter?" Kouichi pushed away from the tree, standing less than an inch taller than Takuya. "You're going to need to tell everyone."

"I don't know," Takuya replied, his shoulders squared. "I don't know where we'll be going, but I know that we can't stay here again."

He then walked up to a small slope in the earth where he could see the entire pack; Amaya, Tomoki and Shinya were playing a game of tag with the former's older brother, Yutaka, watching them while Izumi and Chiaki had just returned from gathering herbs and berries for the herbivores in the pack and for remedies.

Katsuharu, Teppei, Teruo and Junpei were deciding on strategies for either a hunt or defences in an attack, and finally, Chiaki's older siblings – Soujiro and Sumire – were taking a nap after guarding the pack the previous night.

Takuya gulped slightly, glancing nervously back at the twins for a brief moment before throwing back his head and snarling loudly.

Instantly, the two napping woke up and everyone gathered in front of him, save the twins, who remained behind him.

"Winter is coming," Takuya began nervously, "and Seraphimon is getting impatient. We won't be welcome here again this winter."

This statement brought a worried murmur from everyone, but a small glare from Kouji silenced them.

Takuya nodded at the younger twin in thanks before turning back to the pack, "We need to decide where we'll spend winter-"

"Isn't that your decision?" Yutaka interrupted rudely. "You _are _the pack leader, after all."

A quiet growl formed in Kouji's throat, but a look from Takuya silenced him.

"Unlike the last pack leader, I think it would be better if we decided where to go as a group," Takuya explained, knowing that Yutaka and Sumire alike were still sore over the fact that neither of them had become pack leader. "That way, we can hear everyone's opinion on the area and we can weigh up the pros and the cons of the area."

Yutaka nodded in reluctant agreement as Takuya turned back to everyone else, "Are there any suggestions?"

"The Light Continent?" Teppei suggested hopefully. "It's always warm there."

"That may be true, but Ofanimon rules that area and we don't know whether or not she's been corrupted," Soujiro contradicted. "We should go to the Autumn Leaf Fair."

"But that's about two weeks away from here through snow," Sumire added. "Plus, it only lasts for November and December."

"What about the Village of Beginning?"

Tomoki's suggestion was immediately shot down.

"With all of those dumb birdbrains? No way!"

"Flame Village!"

"Never; the Village of Beginnings!"

"Over my dead body! How about-"

Suggestions and objections filled the air, soon replaced by snarls, chirps, barks, growls and roars.

Rage continued to fill Kouji's eyes until his brother nudged Takuya, pointed at him and the duo clapped their hands over their ears. Then he howled as loudly as he could, eyes glinting with anger when the other noises stopped and everyone turned to him.

"Thanks, buddy," Takuya sighed in relief before turning back to the rest of the pack. "I said we could decide where to go as a group; not just shoot down options because they're not our own!"

Most of the pack had the decency to look sheepish, but Sumire simply glared at Takuya, arms crossed.

"I heard Fortune Teller Village, the Autumn Leaf Fair and Toucanmon Paradise," Takuya's eyes flickered to Tomoki, Amaya and Shinya, all of whom had suggested those areas. "Those seem like the best areas; they're not under the control of either Ofanimon or Cherubimon."

"But they're also furthest out of our way!" Teruo objected.

"Which would you prefer; a safe place that takes longer to get to or a dangerous place that we chose just because it's close by?" Kouichi narrowed his eyes at the boy, who grew quiet after that.

"Let's put it to a vote," Takuya sighed. "All those in favour of the fair?"

Katsuharu, Chiaki, Shinya and Yutaka.

"Toucanmon Paradise?"

Tomoki, Izumi, Sumire, himself and Teruo.

"Fortune Teller Village?"

Kouji, Kouichi, Soujiro, Teppei, and Amaya.

A tie... Takuya sighed, "Since Fortune Teller Village and Toucanmon Paradise have the same number of votes, could everyone who voted for the Leaf Fair vote for one of those instead. Fortune Teller Village?"

Katsuharu, Chiaki and Shinya raised their hands, causing Yutaka to scowl and Takuya to smile.

"Okay, so we'll be at Fortune Teller Village and its surrounding area for at least a portion of the winter," he glanced at Izumi. "We'll be leaving tomorrow evening and it'll take about a week to get there. Will we have enough supplies?"

"We don't have enough right now," Izumi chewed her bottom lip, "but if I can get Chiaki and two others to help, I should be able to get everything we need."

"Right," Takuya nodded. "Katsuharu? Soujiro? You two are best at identifying the non-poisonous berries and plants other than Izumi and Chiaki."

"Sure, we'll go," Katsuharu agreed, deciding to ignore Yutaka's irritated huff – something that Izumi didn't.

"Have you got a problem with Takuya's choice?" she narrowed her eyes at Tomoki's older brother.

"Soujiro's one of our best hunters," Yutaka crossed his arms, eyes closed defiantly. "It'd be smarter to keep him here and send Teppei."

Takuya felt a slight blush of embarrassment rise to his cheeks, but thankfully, he was saved by Kouji, "Teppei's helping Kouichi and I train the cubs. Unless of course, you think that it would be wiser to have them travelling defenceless…?"

Kouji's question went unanswered except for a deepened scowl from Yutaka.

"Any more questions?" Takuya asked, nodding in awkward dismissal at the pack when no one said anything. "Okay then."

"Hey," quickly, he caught Kouji's elbow before the younger twin could leave. "Thanks for that."

"Forget about it," Kouji muttered, not meeting Takuya's eyes. "Besides, I owed you one; remember the day Kouichi and I began training to become enforcers?"

Takuya grimaced at the thought; it was how he had ended up training for the position of pack leader. But if he could give up the position just to have the entire incident wiped from everyone's minds, he would.

* * *

_"Outo-san," Takuya whined, looking up at his father._

_"What is it?" Hiroaki asked in an almost irritable manner._

_"All of my friends have already began training; why can't I?" Takuya rested his head sideways on the table. "Even Kouji and Kouichi began training to be enforcers today."_

_Hiroaki sighed, glancing at his three-year-old son out of the corner of his eye, "You're just not ready, Takuya." Chuckling as his son began pouting, Hiroaki placed a hand on Takuya's back, propelling him out of the small tent. "Why don't you go and play with your friends?"_

_Takuya pondered over the idea for a moment before grinning widely and nodding, "Okay, outo-san! Bye!"_

_Within a few minutes of meeting up with the twins, they had developed an extreme game of tag which involved catching someone by hurling weak attacks at them, and all of the other cubs that were old enough to play had joined in, Sumire, Soujiro and Yutaka included._

_Their game led them further into the woods and further away from their families, Izumi being about to catch Kouji with a light gust of wind when he suddenly froze, a growl forming in his throat._

_Normally, Takuya would have paid this no heed as Kouji tended to be paranoid at times and would often growl in order to draw attention away from the game in order to escape… but then Sumire and Kouichi started growling as well._

_"Blood," Kouichi's whisper was carried around the silent clearing before he and Kouji sprinted through the woods in the opposite direction of the camp._

_"You guys stay here," Takuya muttered before running after the duo. "I'll follow them."_

_He quickly caught up to them and between ten and fifteen minutes later, they halted, the stench of blood in the air almost unbearable._

_Blood stained the barks of the trees in vibrant splashes of red, and behind the large oak in front of them, they could see an even larger pool of it, still shining in the sunlight, hinting that it had only been spilled recently._

_Taking a deep breath, Kouji took small, shaky steps around the tree, Takuya and Kouichi's eyes boring into him._

_When he saw what was on the other side of the tree though, he screamed and fell to his knees, his eyes wide in absolute horror as tears slowly trickled down his cheeks._

_Kouichi immediately ran to his younger twin's aid, barely sparing a glance at what was in front of him before falling to his knees and pulling Kouji into a tight hug as though he would die if he let go, tears falling freely down his face._

_Takuya gulped, barely able to work up the courage to see what had happened; never in the three years he had known them had he seen the twins cry, or allow their barriers to collapse at once like that._

_Whatever it was, it was bad._

_Slowly, he edged around the tree, eyes clamping shut less than a second after he had seen what had happened. _

_In the middle of the clearing lay the twins' mother's head, cleanly severed from her body, an expression of pure terror on her face, eyes wide and glassy, while her body lay in a pool of still wet blood behind the head, all of her inner organs spilling onto the grass from a long, deep gash in her stomach._

_"O-Okaa-san," Kouji whimpered, shaking his head in denial. "No…"_

_Takuya gritted his teeth, forcing his eyes open although quickly redirecting them to the twins, "Come on."_

_He quickly grabbed them by the shoulders and pulled them away until they could no longer see the gruesome sight, "We need to get back to camp."_

_The duo nodded, and although shell-shocked, made it back to their friends quickly._

_"Stay with them," Takuya murmured to Chiaki and Izumi before turning back to the camp. "I'll be back soon."_

* * *

"I didn't do anything other than tell the pack, and you've paid me back a hundred times over," Takuya reasoned as Kouji gave him a sceptical look.

"You did a lot more than just tell the pack."

"What did I do?" Takuya asked, confused as Kouji shook his head, smirking with amusement.

"Sorry, Taky, but you're going to need to figure that out on your own."

* * *

Kouji frowned, quickly grabbing Amaya's wrist in order to stop her from getting a hit in at his gut, having agreed to train her rather than Tomoki for once, "Something's here…"

Teppei nodded in agreement as he and Kouichi stepped protectively in front of the younger three members of the pack, tense and waiting for attack.

"**Diamond Storm**!"

Sharp, glowing leaves ripped through their skin as the younger three hid behind them, causing them to cry out in pain.

"Renamon…" Kouichi snarled, eyes turning a dark brown colour as he glared at the yellow-and-white furred figure in front of him.

"Good to see you again, boys," Renamon smirked slightly, her emerald eyes vacant as they scanned the twins. "You miss me?"

"Sure; just like we missed you when you killed our mother," Kouichi's glare intensified, putting even Kouji's to shame.

"Still holding unjustified grudges, I see," Renamon cocked her head to one side. "Why do you think it was me?"

"Your scent was all over the area!" Kouji growled, his eyes blood red in colour.

"Of course it was," Renamon sighed sarcastically, striding over to them and holding a glowing paw over their heads.

Instantly, their injuries healed and they leapt up as Teppei guided the cubs out of the clearing, their energy returning.

"Why did you heal us?" Kouichi demanded, hands balling into fists.

"Well, the fight wouldn't be any fun if you two couldn't fight properly," Renamon back-flipped out of range, "now would it?"

As one, they raised their hands to the sky, Kouji moving his hand to just below his waist on his left leg, Kouichi's landing on the back of his neck.

"Merging Spirit…" A white and dark grey glow enveloped each of them respectfully, revealing their transformed selves once it dimmed, "Evolution!"

"Strabimon!" Kouji howled, having emerged as a humanoid wolf with grey-white fur, blood red eyes and long, sharp, lethal claws, a pair of purple trousers covering his legs, fingerless gloves on his hands and a long, purple scarf around his neck, leaving his torso bare.

"Itzalamon!" Kouichi roared, now a golden-coated lion humanoid, his long, thin tail almost tipping the ground with its dark brown, fluffy tip, part of his chest and arms covered by a black leather jacket – which was left open – and his legs by baggy, black trousers. His eyes were dark brown in colour and his hair had turned the same brown as the tip of his tail while his claws – although short – were sharp and deadly.

"This will be interesting," Renamon observed them with a bored look that contradicted her statement before leaping into the air. "**Diamond-**"

**"Light Legs**!" Strabimon's legs began glowing brightly, drawing attention away from his growing claws which tore at Renamon's fur and flesh as he leaped into the air and kicked her into the ground.

"**Darkness Wave!**" Itzalamon clapped his hands together, eyes closed in concentration as several pulses of black matter left his body, slamming into Renamon, although she still managed to stand up afterwards.

"The brothers Yin and Yang," she observed with a thoughtful look on her face as Strabimon landed next to his brother again. "The rumours are true…"

"What rumours?" Itzalamon demanded as Renamon smirked, her paw glowing again as she sprinted towards the twins.

"That the enforcers of the Warriors were useless losers unworthy of their titles!" she yelled as she grabbed each of their arms with her green-glowing paws.

Suddenly weak, the duo both collapsed, transforming back due to lack of energy.

"Not even enough energy for an appetiser," Renamon sighed as the twins struggled to remain conscious. "What a pity; I guess I'll just need to find my meal elsewhere."

She turned to leave, only to pause as Kouichi managed to struggle to his feet, "Where do you think you're going? We're not finished with you yet!"

"I see that you still have some fight left in you," Renamon's smirk grew. "I'll just have to fix that, won't I?"

As Kouichi lunged at her, hand outstretched to summon a weapon of dark matter, she caught him by the throat with a glowing paw, allowing him to fall unconscious at her feet a moment later.

"Nii-san!" Kouji yelled, rage burning in his eyes as he glared at Renamon, slowly standing up. A bow and arrow of pure light formed in his hands as he aimed the arrow at Renamon's heart, only for her to catch it a split second before it met its destination with another glowing paw.

"What?" Kouji trembled with lack of energy, falling to his hands and knees as more of it was drained. "How are you…?"

"Your attack was connected to your energy," Renamon threw the arrow at the earth as Kouji completely collapsed, fading in and out of consciousness. "You of all people should know that by now."

She took a step closer to him, fangs bared as he squeezed his eyes shut; those who couldn't protect themselves often wound up being the lunch of those who could.

Thankfully though, a loud roar filled the air, nearing with every second, causing Renamon to halt.

"Huh… I see that your leader is nearby," Renamon crouched down beside Kouji, flicking his forehead. "If he's anything like you, he shouldn't be too hard to defeat, but I don't want to just end it all now… it's a fun game."

She smirked and whacked Kouji over the back of the head with enough force to knock a sumo wrestler out, "I look forward to fighting you if you ever get stronger, Light."

Then, she leapt into the trees and left the clearing, leaving the twins alone until Takuya, Chiaki and Teppei ran into it a few minutes later.

* * *

Renamon sighed in relief as she dropped out of the trees that signalled the edge of the forest, landing neatly on the ground, "I can't believe I did that…"

A golden light enveloped her, leaving a girl with red hair styled in a spiky ponytail and violet eyes crouching on the ground when it faded.

"I let him take control of me again…" she gritted her teeth angrily, hands balling into fists as she shakily walked to the edge of the forest where grass met rocky terrain. "I need to stay away from here."

"That's not an option," a voice behind her snarled and she slowly turned to see a large, brown robot glaring at her. "**Destruction Grenade**!"

"Merging Spirit Evolution!" she yelled, allowing Renamon's form to take the place of hers once again. "**Diamond Storm**!" As the robot dodged the energy-powered leaves, Renamon darted for the rocky terrain, where she knew that he wouldn't follow her.

"Think you're free now?" he yelled after her as she darted through the boulders. "You're not! You won't be free forever; he will find you!"

"I never said that I would be," she muttered under her breath. "But it's better than never being free… at least this way I can warn them."

* * *

"Will they be okay?" Takuya questioned as soon as Izumi walked out of the medical tent that she had been treating the twins in.

"They'll be fine; their injuries aren't severe," she assured him, "but I'm worried by their lack of energy. It couldn't have been spent through natural means."

"Could it have been something to do with the Renamon that Teppei mentioned?" Takuya inquired as Izumi chewed her lower lip.

"That seems likely… but I've never heard of a Renamon who could do that. It'd have to have some kind of ability."

Takuya nodded in understanding as Izumi yawned and walked towards her tent, leaving him alone outside.

Slowly, he turned his gaze up to the three moons, _It's starting again… I just hope that it won't end the same way this time._

* * *

_Kouji: _Why do you enjoy making us suffer?

_DD: _How is me enjoying writing the same as me enjoying you suffering?

_Takuya: _You write about us suffering.

_Teppei: _Every-

_Katsuharu: _Single-

_Yutaka: _Freaking-

_Junpei: _Time.

_Soujiro: _So _why_?!

_DD: _I haven't even written about you before, so how did I make you suffer?

_Sumire: _You made us; that's how!

_DD: _Yes! My mission in life has been accomplished!

_Kouichi: _Your mission in life is really to make us suffer?

_DD: _Aw, I could never do that to you, Kouichi! That's why I knocked you out before Kouji! ^-^

_Kouichi: _That's your version of not making me suffer? YOU KILLED OUR MOM!

_DD: _Since when were you so scary when you were angry?

_Izumi: _Since Takuya became calm and rational.

_Takuya: _Yeah, I- hey!

_Izumi: _No, I'm being serious!

_Soujiro: _In the series, you were more… eh…

_Shinya: _Hot-headed?

_Kouji: _Idiotic? *smirks*

_Teruo: _Forgetful?

_Soujiro: _All of them.

_Izumi: _And Junpei barely got a word in!

_Katsuharu: _And since when did Kouji ever 'keep a respectful distance'?

_DD: _Hey, do you know about a wolf pack's hierarchy? I don't think so!

_Kouji: _Alpha males and females at the top, followed by the enforcers. Then there are the hunters and lastly, the cubs are at the bottom because they're a burden on the pack for the most part.

_Amaya, Shinya and Tomoki: _Hey!

_DD: _What? You're the youngest three…

_Amaya: _And you couldn't have made me older?

_DD: _Oh, shut it.

_Chiaki: _*sighs* You really have no idea what you're doing until you start, do you?

_DD: _No, I do!... I just lost my notebook and could only remember half of this… thanks to LacrymosaRules for helping me out with this!

_Amaya: _And seriously! Don't say that you didn't!

_Izumi: _We know you!

_Kouichi: _So don't; please!

_DD: _If you do, I'll kill Kouji!

_Kouji: _WHAT?!


	2. IMPORTANT NOTICE ABOUT UPDATES!

Hey, guys. Sorry, this isn't a chapter or even a funny commentary. Anyway, I've been overloaded with stories and been meaning to cut back, but I couldn't decide how to do it. So I recently put up a vote asking you guys to chose what story I should make my top priority. Whichever story has the most votes by early August, I will continue until I finish that story and then I will move onto another one. So if you haven't voted yet, please do so now. Oh, and I'll be MIA for about three weeks while at a writing course starting the 13th of June because... *sniff* I CAN'T BRING MY COMPUTER! WHYYYYYY?! Ahem. Anyway, that's all! I'll try and write as much of every story as possible until the results of the votes are in. Thanks! :D


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